#ISBFX - The End of the Road

“…. All the rainbows in the sky
Start to weep, then say goodbye
You won't be seeing rainbows any more
Setting suns before they fall, echo to you that's all that's all
But you'll see lonely sunset after all

It's over…. “

“It's Over” - Roy Orbison

It was fun while it lasted eh?

That's #ISBFX all but wrapped up. That huge stressball can go back in its box. And archived. Done.

MD - Tunemaster!

What we do isn't complicated. Beer. People. Tunes.

Friends coming together for their annual get together.

I speak - I think - for the entire #ISBFFamily when I say that we're quite proud of what we achieved with this event from its start in October 2014.

When 37 people attended the first session.

We came a long way….

I’m not one for long goodbyes, so I'll be as brief as possible.

Firstly, some “Thank Yous”. (Most were detailed in the programme - I won't repeat those)

To Daisy Turnell & Amelie Tassin of Tipple Marketing.

For taking the Socials from me and doing them SO MUCH BETTER. I was nervous about letting those go. But after some teething issues (me learning to let go!), I saw talented professionals in action.

Talent. Organisation. Lower stress levels. De facto information Project Management.

Can't thank you enough. 💐

To Chris & Tim. You know why.

Jock, Jaz, Andy Packwood, Chris Airey, Bevis, John O’D, Mike & Jo - Thank you so much for everything, especially the Tuesday (made everything far less stressful.

The entire #ISBFFamily. You set the mood. That mood means people come back. Year. On. Year.

You make this event what it is. It's not the beer. People matter. You matter. Thank you. 💐

To Laura Hadland, Matt Curtis, Andy Parker, Mark Welsby, Russ Clarke and Krishan Rajput (Stirchley Wines - Birmingham) ) Sam Parker (Keg, Cask & Bottle - Prestwich) & Greg & Rosie Start (R&G Beer Vault - Macclesfield) for coming along to our little bash and taking part in the excellent talks. 💐

Also to Amelie & Tun Brewing’s Richard Alston for our excellent first ever Friday Lunch chat!

To our lovely sponsors. 💐

You make an enormous difference.

Thank you all.

To Claire (Brewery Jewellery). For coming to ISBF and celebrating her 50th birthday with us! For wearing that Tiara. For buying one of our Grandsons’ “artworks” (and for wishing him Happy Birthday!). Our Geordie 🌟 💐

To Hannah & Justine from Start Inspiring Minds. Being there, talking to people, getting an idea of how much it means to both the #ISBFFamily AND our attendees to have a part in making money for such a good cause.

It's easy for me to say stuff about why we do what we do, but - of course - it could be just me making up words. You gave those words substance. Thank you 💐

To Chris from NEW YORK (!!!) who flew over for this little event! Just WOW. Thank you for trusting your friend’s opinion and flying over!

Read his thoughts here.

To YOU the ISBF attendees. By enjoying yourselves, drinking from the most fabulous beer list (I'm not going to be shy about that), chatting with friends old & new, buying raffle tickets, YOU make one hell of a difference to many lives in Salford & beyond (seriously, I'm tearing up as I write this).

Without this lady, there would be no ISBF.

Anyway. To the point of this post.

Last Wednesday, Jock & I had a chat with Justine Wallace (START CEO) to run through how things went, how much she loved the event - and thanked everyone who came.

She “gets” the feeling of ISBF. And that was lovely to hear.

The sense of “community” was palpable.

What was also lovely was transferring £16000 to START (while we were talking).

Thank YOU so much. And give YOURSELVES some flowers. You deserve them.

£16000. Let that sink in. A record amount for us. In consecutive years.

We can't top that. So we're not going to try…….. Farewell ISBF……….

Gah! Who am I kidding?

#ISBFXI : 12/11/2026 - 14/11/2026.

You coming? Put it in your calendars.

Back soon to ask you for your Beer of the Festival. (And also with details of how to contribute directly to START - Several people have asked me for this!)

Love to you all. Peace out.

Jim x